3,164 Shares in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Bought by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors purchased a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 8.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Southern stock opened at $90.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $67.53 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.18.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.82%.

Southern Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.